


Standard Make and Model of an Intergalactic Family

by Starkk



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Explicit Language, Family, Family Issues, No Smut, OFC is a badass, Rick Being an Asshole, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21756202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starkk/pseuds/Starkk
Summary: Rick and Morty are captured and quickly joined by another reluctant prisoner. It isn't until they get home that they realize who she really is. This is the story of Rick and Morty's interactions with his second daughter, who inherited the family business.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	Standard Make and Model of an Intergalactic Family

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> Sorry that I suck so much at descriptions. Hope you enjoy :D

“R-rick? What’s the plan?” Morty asked timidly, looking up at his grandfather for some sort of sign that it was going to be okay. They were in a small room with three walls, all pristinely white, and where the third wall would have been was open, save for the dozens of deadly lasers that were strung across the empty space. It was a pretty standard containment cell. Morty knew that his grandpa was about two seconds away from whipping out some wild contraption of his that was going to spring them from the cell and let them get back home. 

“I don’t know, Morty. We’re in- we’re in a real pickle here,” Rick said, reaching in his coat for his flask and then stopping short when he remembered that they had confiscated it along with everything else when they had done the very thorough entry search. Rick thought for a moment while he slowly sobered up, something that he avoided at all costs. He was sure that he was going to be able to get them out, he just needed time to think. He didn’t get it as the sound of the door at the end of the hallway opened and then closed. 

“Keep walking, you,” the guard commanded. Almost identically to when he had shoved Rick and Morty into the cell. There had only been one cell in the hallway, the one where they now resided. Rick waited for what the guard would do, looking for any opportunity that he could take advantage of to get them out. He walked right up to the deadly lasers and did his best to peer over to the side. Morty, of course was right behind him as usual. 

The newcomer was being pushed into sight by the guard. The only place that they could be heading was to their cell. Rick’s mind was working as he narrowed his eyes at the two people now in sight. In front was a girl. Young. Probably in her late teens or early twenties. She was thin and tall, wearing the same orange jumpsuit that him and Morty were and her hands were similarly bound in front of her in metal shackles. Her hair was long, shiny, and so black that it almost looked blue. She looked like she was annoyed and bored, a very practiced look in Rick’s opinion. 

“Stand back!” the guard shouted at them, pointing the gun in his hand at the girl. Rick was pleased at this turn of events; when the lasers were lowered to put the girl into the cell with them, he could make his move and jump the guard. The girl would probably get shot, but it would get him and his grandson out of there, which was a trade that he was willing to make. He prepared himself, taking a small step backward to give the appearance of compliance. 

Seeing that things were going smoothly, the guard stepped to the side to operate the panel to lower the lasers. Rick rolled his eyes, man, this guy was stupid. Rick was too busy watching the guard, waiting for the perfect time to strike. He missed the moment that the girl’s eyes brushed over him and Morty, then did a double take and grew wide with recognition. She immediately turned toward the guard and took a step toward him before she stopped when the gun was pointed directly in her face. 

“Wait, no!” she spoke for the first time, her voice betraying a hint of panic. “Isn’t there some other cell?”

“Shut up! The guard commanded, wild-eyed and looking like he was going to shoot any second and ruin Rick’s chance at escape. “Get back!” he yelled again. 

“Okay, okay fine. I’ll cooperate. Take me back to the council, I’ll tell them whatever they want,” the girl pleaded, looking unconcerned at the gun in her face. The guard looked confused for a moment at the sudden attitude change in the girl. There was a stunned silence, as everyone, Rick included, tried to figure out just what was going on. Surprisingly, the guard recovered first, and lowered the laser field. At the same time, he used the gun to smack the girl across the face and shove her into the cell, straight into Rick, who was trying to get out of it before the lasers came back on. He knocked into her and they both fell backwards as the lasers flickered back on. There was a grunt from the girl and the smell of burning flesh. She must’ve fallen just a little too far back. However, it couldn’t have been that bad because she immediately flipped around and get to her feet, getting dangerously close to the laser that had just sliced into her shoulder. 

“No! Stop! You can’t leave me here!” she yelled back at the retreating guard. She looked for a moment like she was going to put her hands against the lasers to knock, but then seemed to rightfully think better of it and her hands fell back to her sides. She visibly took a deep breath, and then turned around to face the other occupants of the small cell. Rick had gotten back up to his feet, an annoyed look on his face at the missed escape plan. Morty just looked confused, which was nothing new for Morty. The girl looked at them through narrowed eyes, like they were the last thing that she would want to be looking at right now. 

“What’s you-r deal?” Rick asked bluntly. “Did I kill your mother or something? Steal your money? Destroy your planet? I’m not into chicks that young so it couldn’t be-“

The girl slowly raised her eyebrows and then they settled into a look of disgust. She brought her hands up to pinch the bridge of her nose and it looked like she was counting to ten.

“Don’t mind Rick,” Morty spoke up, looking up at the girl with open curiosity. “I’m Morty. What are you in for?” he asked, trying to sound tough, feeling like one of those cliché prisoners in movies that he liked to watch. 

“R-really Morty? Our chance to escape is gone and you’re flirting with the newbie? By the way, you were real fucking useful back there, thanks for the backup buddy,” Rick answered before the girl could. Morty looked down at his feet the way that he often did when Rick insulted him and Rick shook his head, looking back up to the girl once she started to move. 

She quickly reached a hand behind her to touch the area where the laser had apparently burned her. Rick was sure that that stung like a bitch. When she returned her fingers and saw that there was no blood, she gingerly rolled her shoulders. 

“A-a-are you okay?” Morty found his voice again, much to Rick’s annoyance. She was a stranger, what did Rick and Morty care about her? The girl didn’t answer, and instead walked straight to the corner of the cell where the lasers met the wall. Rick thought for a moment she was going to start begging the guard to come back and take her, but instead she started rapping on the wall with the back of her knuckles.

“There’s nothing there, don’t bother-“ Rick’s deprecating comment was cut short when the resulting sound was obviously different than the knocking that she had done around it. She then used her fingernails to very carefully pry open a small panel in the wall that had been invisible to their eyes.

“You were saying?” she prompted Rick, her voice full of gloating venom. 

Rick strode over and pushed her out of the way, none too gently, eyeing the contents under the panel that the girl had just opened. She regained her balance and then rolled her eyes, bringing her hands up over her chest and then wincing when it pulled on the muscles of her injured back. She was sure it was nothing more than a minor burn, but lasers always seemed to sting more. 

“Aww gee, how did you know that that was there?” Morty asked, looking impressed, which wasn’t terribly hard to do with Morty. 

“Standard make and model of intergalactic threat containment unit,” the girl answered flatly, watching Rick pull apart and reassemble the wires. 

“Wow. Who are you?”

“Emma,” the girl answered in a tone that made it clear that she didn’t want to talk. Morty never picked up on that tone in Rick’s experience though. 

“W-well, you really saved us here, Emma,” Morty went on. “Now we can get out of here.”

“T-here is no ‘we’, Morty,” Rick reminded him, as the lasers faded out of sight and he stepped through. “Common, let’s go.”

“But, Rick-“ Morty started and then was cut off when Rick reached over and grabbed the boy by the arm, practically dragging him out and towards the door. 

“There’s two guards posted outside. Not to mention the labyrinth of rooms exactly like this on their upper floor, all with guards,” the girl called after them as the duo went down the hallway. 

“What’s your point?” Rick called back angrily. 

“I know where they took our stuff,” Emma answered simply. Rick paused and considered her for a moment. He wasn’t one to trust someone that he didn’t know, but she hardly looked like a threat if things didn’t go his way. Plus, he was the smartest, most ruthless person in the universe. He could handle if things got a little out of control. Double-plus if she actually knew where his portal gun had gone to.

“Well then, lead the way,” Rick said, giving a fake smile and gesturing for her to go ahead of him and Morty with his bound hands. She looked annoyed and then strode past them. She paused at the door for a second to listen and then in one quick motion she opened it and stepped back. Rick was right behind her and got there soon enough to see her ripping the gun out of the hand of the guard to the right, then quickly dodging behind him to put his body between her and the other guard. Unfortunately that meant that Rick, who was now in the doorway, was caught between the two guards, one of which still had their gun and was recovering from the shock. 

With practiced reflexes, Rick pushed the gun away from him and then used the opening to flip the guard over his body, breaking his neck along the way with an audible crack. In the same motion he picked up the gun and shot the other guard. He fell in a heap and then there was just him and Emma, both with guns drawn and their hands bound. They stared at each other for a moment, both wondering what the other would do next when Morty came out the door to a similar situation as Rick had. 

Unlike Rick, however, it took Morty a second to realize the he had just walked into the middle of two crosshairs and by the time that he registered the situation they had both lowered their weapons. Morty nervously rubbed the back of his neck and took the expected glare from Rick. 

“This way,” Emma said, gun pointed in front of her now. They walked down several hallways in tense silence. Morty couldn’t help but feel like it was more tense than it should have been with someone that he didn’t know. However, he knew full well the notoriety that shrouded his grandpa and that there were a lot of people in the universe that wanted to get even with him. He hoped that this girl wasn’t one of them. Rick didn’t take kindly to revenge or double crossing. 

Finally they came to a halt in front of a door. There were no guards, but a keypad shinning in front of them, blocking their way. It had been pretty easy to get there, but this brought things to a standstill. 

“You wouldn’t happen to know- know the key, would you?” Morty asked with a nervous laugh. The longer they stood still the more on edge he was that someone was going to turn the corner. 

“No, but I might be able to figure it out. Give me a minute,” Emma said, and then was studying the program and the keyboard. It suddenly exploded in her face and she stumbled backwards, registering that Rick had shot it. She opened her mouth to say something, looking understandably upset, when the door opened. And someone turned the corner. And an alarm sounded. 

The three of them quickly dove into the room to avoid the fire coming their way. Rick tossed his gun to Morty, who poked his head out of the door and started covering them automatically. 

“How did you know that that would open the door?” Emma asked before she could stop herself. 

“Standard make and model of intergalactic door,” Rick mocked her, already digging through the piles of confiscated stuff. It should be somewhere on top since they hadn’t been there that long. Rick noted that Emma had chosen to watch him rather than look around herself. 

“They’re coming!” Morty screamed and ran towards his grandpa. Apparently his gun only had so many shots on it and he had just ran out. A figure appeared in the doorway, gun drawn only to be shot through the head by the gun in Emma’s hand. She started using shots on the dozens of guards that were piling in. 

“Got it!” Rick said triumphantly, holding up his portal gun, which was spewing all sorts of green light and sparks. “Sons of bitches broke it. But there’s enough to get us back home.” He pointed the gun at the wall and was about to fire when something tackled him from behind. 

Rick and Emma went down in a tumble of limbs, both struggling to get control of the portal gun. There was fire coming in from the open doorway, though they seemed cautious about actually charging after having lost so many people. Rick was holding the gun out, though he couldn’t seem to get a good enough grip on it to fire. Emma was fending off Rick’s shoves and trying to climb her way up to the gun. Eventually Rick slammed his elbow down into her face and blood spurted out of her nose, but he had brought the portal gun closer do to so, and she used to make a wild grab for it, accidentally knocking it out of his hand. It landed next to Morty’s feet, who had been watching the fight like he wasn’t sure what he could do. 

“Morty, grab it and get us the hell away from this bitch!” Rick commanded. They pushed away from each other now that they didn’t have the gun to fight over. 

“No—” Emma started, scrambling to her feet, but Morty had already done what his grandfather had asked, like it was on instinct. 

“Let’s go!” Rick said as he went through the portal first, fully expecting Morty to follow them and then that would be the end of the adventure. 

Morty and Emma stood there for a moment, eyeing each other warily. There were sounds of backup coming down the hallway and they were sure to get to the room any moment. 

“Come on, quick,” Morty said, and then gestured to the portal. “They’ll kill you if you’re still here.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Emma said dryly, looking around for something that she could use as a weapon. 

“There are no chances,” Morty pleaded, “Look, Rick’s an asshole, but once he fixes his gun, I can convince him to portal you back home. You helped us.”

The door was suddenly full of aliens and gunfire. Morty took that moment of her lapse of concentration to quickly shove her into the portal and then follow her before anyone got hit with the insane amount of gunfire that had just been released. 

Emma was already on the move when Morty stepped through and the portal closed. She had rolled to her feet and was desperately looking around the garage. She walked straight to a box of Rick’s stuff and started rummaging through it when she heard the unmistakable sound of a laser gun powering up right behind her. Not finding anything useful in the next millisecond, she sighed and put up her already bound hands. 

“That’s it, sweetheart. Now turn around nice and slow,” Rick’s scathing voice called to her. 

Gritting her teeth at his tone, and just her general disgust with being in this position, she turned around to face him slowly, to see him frowning down at her. He did have a gun trained right at her face, which she kept her eyes on instead of staring at him. Still frowning, Rick poked at his watch. 

“Security system. Why haven’t you blown her to pieces yet?” he prompted, hitting a few more buttons while still keeping the gun trained on the girl in front of him. 

“Blood scan complete. Family protocol activated,” the machine chirped back at him. Emma slowly put her hands down as Rick squinted angrily at his watch. 

“Well rescan then,” Rick snapped at it. 

“Family protocol activated,” The watch repeated. 

“How’d you get ahold of my DNA? What are you? You some kind of clone or something?” Rick said, stepping forward menacingly, almost touching the gun to her forehead. As he got closer, Emma couldn’t focus on the gun anymore, so she looked off to the ground. Not meeting his eye. Her practiced face of annoyed boredom finding its way back.

“I ASKED YOU A QUESTION,” Rick barked. Emma tensed up a little bit and drug her eyes up to look at his. A shiver went down Rick’s spine, but he couldn’t tell whether it was because of the sharp look of distain in her eyes or something else… 

“I’m not a clone,” Emma said, her voice soft and calm. 

“Ah, common Rick. Geez,” Morty said, reminding both of them that he was in the room as well. He handed Rick the broken portal gun, which Rick slipped back into the coat to look at later. “I made her come here.” 

“Shut up, Morty,” Rick said, but he backed off of Emma for a moment to pour something over his handcuffs, instantly dissolving them. He tossed the test tube of the liquid to Morty, who did the same, then started walking over to Emma, but was stopped by Rick’s voice.

“No, she’s not getting out of here until she answers me. Where did you get my DNA?” he asked again. He seemed less tense, but he was still holding the gun on her. 

“Is it really a surprise? You don’t seem to be very picky about where you leave it,” Emma said, then wiped at the blood covering her face. 

“I’m not going to ask again,” Rick said, his voice stone cold and serious. 

“Well, when a mommy and a daddy—” Emma started in a sarcastic tone. 

“Cut it. Morty go get a blood sample. If this bitch isn’t going to talk then I’ll have to find out the hard way.”

Morty slowly stood up and then grabbed a swab from Rick’s desk and cautiously approached Emma. He looked back to make sure that Rick was still pointing the gun at her, but when he got closer he gave her a look of sheepish apology. She rolled her eyes at him and held still while he swabbed a little bit of blood off her face. Then he turned and deposited it into a machine, which started a bunch of numbers to display on the computer. 

Obviously not wanted to take his eyes off her to read the data, Rick said, “Alright let’s see who’s dumb enough to clone me. Computer, read results.”

“DNA match. Family genetics confirmed.”

“You already said that. How good is this clone? Read genetic makeup.”

“Confirmed. Rick Sanchez. Status. Biological father. Dianne Sanchez. Status. Biological mother—”

“Fuck, they cloned Beth? I’m gonna—” Rick started, a whole new level of angry, but the computer continued.

“Beth Smith. Status. Biological sister. Summer Smith. Status. Biological niece. Morty Smith. Status. Biological nephew.”

“Uh, Rick. That’s not right for a clone, is it?” Morty asked, but before Rick could answer there was a crash from outside of breaking glass and the door opened, letting a worried looking Beth inside. 

“What’s going on in here?” Beth demanded and looked around until her eyes fell on Emma, bound and bloodied. “Did I just hear…”

“Now calm down, sweetie. This is just some elaborate trick to get something from me. Probably those Zigerions again. Making some sort of genetic mock up to try and—”

“Chances of genetic tampering or duplication… zero point one seven percent,” the computer chimed in helpfully. 

There was a second of silence as the family processed what the computer was saying. 

“Uh. Family meeting. Now,” Beth said then grabbed Morty and started leading him to the door. When Rick didn’t follow her she turned around and said, “Now!” more insistently. She had apparently started with the wine a little early today. Rick happened to look over at Emma right as she had looked over at him, then Rick shrugged and gestured with the gun toward the door. With an incredulous look on her face, Emma started walking slowly to the door. They walked through the kitchen to the dining room. Morty and Jerry were already sitting at the table while Beth had gotten Summer and they both were looking over at Emma curiously. Rick walked over and pulled out a chair, motioning her to sit, and then sat down next to her in his normal spot. 

“Now, dad, can you explain to me what is happening right now?” Beth said sweetly as she walked into the room after Summer and they both sat down. 

“This is stupid. Let me go deal with this in my garage for a moment and then I can tell you whatever you want,” Rick said. 

“Mom, this is Emma. She helped us escape from Crimtonulon 7,” Morty said. 

“And, why was the computer saying that she’s related to us?” Beth asked, still sweetly. Jerry and Summer looked up suddenly like they had been expecting this to be about something uninteresting. 

“Because I’m related to you?” Emma said, sounding exasperated like she didn’t want to be there. Which made Morty remember how much she had fought coming here. 

“You’re not. You’re not Dianne’s kid. You’re too young for that. She died before you were born,” Rick snapped. 

“That’s just what you think,” Emma responded dryly. 

“Well, then tell me what it is that you think,” Rick said, narrowing his eyes. He leaned forward and rested the gun on the table, still aimed. He was threatening. Dangerous in a way that they had rarely, if ever, seen. 

“Mom found out that she was pregnant with me a little bit after you left her. Then she faked her own death and promptly fucked off Earth,” Emma said, and to her credit she didn’t look scared, even when all of the rest of the family was torn between fear of Rick and curiosity of her. “Back then, even the most advanced Earth space travel was still putting people into cryo for long space travel.”

“But… why would she do that?” Beth hiccupped, looking like she was ready to cry.

“Don’t ask me,” Emma said, putting her hands up, and fixing her gaze on Rick in a clear ‘ask him’.

“So you’re, like, Mom’s little sister?” Summer spoke up. 

“That’s how the lie works, Summer. Shut up. No one believes you, you can drop this little act,” Rick said, still dangerous. 

“I don’t really give a shit if you believe me or not. All I want is to get out of here. Still think you can convince him to portal me somewhere?” Emma asked, inclining her head toward Morty. 

“Is she still alive?” Beth blurted out, not able to stop her voice from cracking.

The question hung in the air for a moment. Morty saw something like sadness enter Emma’s eyes, but then she looked down at the table and away from everyone. After a moment, she answered, “No.” The answer left the room even more quiet than the question had. Finally, Beth was crying quietly. 

“Aww sweetie, no. Don’t cry. Don’t worry, this isn’t real anyway,” Rick said, softening up just a fraction at the sight of his daughter crying. 

“Of course it’s real, Dad. Just LOOK at her,” Beth insisted, wiping her eyes and gesturing to Emma. Morty had to admit that she did look a lot like Rick once he was looking for it. They had the same build and face shape. Only the eyes weren’t quite right. “Why didn’t you come find us?” Beth said, recovering. Her tone was accusatory. 

“Uh…?” Emma looked away from Beth, down at her bloody hands in handcuffs, then glanced at Rick’s gun still pointed at her. 

“Dad, put that thing away!” Beth insisted, but it didn’t move. 

“Not until I understand what’s going on,” Rick said stubbornly. “Prove it.”

“If I can’t prove it, then can I go?” Emma shot back. 

“No.”

“Look. Mom faked her own death, abandoned her kid, and moved across the fucking universe rather than tell you that she was pregnant. I don’t know what you expect me to assume from that? Should I really just waltz back over to Earth and introduce myself? What was she so scared of?” Emma snapped, starting to get angry herself. It was the most words that she had spoken, Morty noted.

“You think Dianne was scared of me?” Rick rolled his eyes. 

“Smartest man in the universe, right here,” Emma said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. They stopped to glare at each other. 

“Oh my god, this is like some sort of crazy episode of Pregnant Baby,” Summer interjected, sounding excited. “So where have you been this entire time?”

“Space,” Emma answered uncommittedly, tearing her glare away from Rick. 

“So- so what now?” Morty asked Rick, having watched this entire conversation go down.

“Now, we ask all of our questions while she’s cornered,” Beth responded. 

“Ask away,” Emma said, turning towards Beth and eyeing her with just as much curiosity as Beth was giving her. 

“So, Emma, what do you do? You know, for a living? Out there in space.” Jerry asked excitedly. Everyone, including Emma turned to look at him. Most expressions were exasperated. Emma’s was one of confusion and shock. She let the awkwardly asked question hang in the air for a moment while she looked at Beth with a clear look of ‘this guy?’. 

“I’m a child prostitute in the Crimson 11 district,” Emma stated like it was just another fact of life. 

The room around them looked horrified and shocked. Beth put her hand up to stifle her gasp. The only one who seemed unconcerned was Rick. 

“I, well – that’s”, Jerry began, obviously flustered. 

Emma suddenly started to laugh and the smile that spread across her face was light and genuine, making her look like a different person. “Kidding. You’re all so tense,” she said easily, still smiling down at them.

“So what do you do then?” Beth asked, looking relieved. 

Emma shrugged. “What don’t I do?” she gave another half answer. “Wait no, I’ll answer that. What I don’t do is sit around and answer stupid questions from my family when I have about a million and one better uses of my time.” There it was. Apple. Tree. 

There was a small sound of charging and the then a light ding that wouldn’t really have been concerning except for the fact that Rick immediately stood up, throwing the chair back behind him. His eyes were the type of wild that said that he was going to shoot her right then and there, but then an even bigger gun dropped down from the ceiling, training itself on him. About three other guns joined and pointed at various people around the room. Everyone was looking around in shock, except for Emma. 

“Finally,” she said and then stood up too. “That took so much longer than I thought it would.” She brought her hands up in front of her and then ripped them apart. There was a cracking sound as the metal tore. Then she looked over at Rick, who looked furious, but he slowly put the gun in his hands down onto the table and then slid it toward her. She picked it up and disarmed it easily without thinking about it. 

“Well, sorry to cut this little family reunion short everybody. It’s been fun. Let’s do this again never,” she said and closed the distance between her and Rick. 

“But-but we’re your family. You wouldn’t hurt us,” Beth insisted, still not quite believing her. 

“You’re nothing more than humans who happen to share a fraction of my genetic code. I’ll make sure to come back if I ever need some DNA samples for an experiment or something,” Emma stated, holding her hand out to Rick, who glared down at her and crossed his arms across his chest. Rolling her eyes again, Emma stepped forward and dug her hands into his lab coat, pulling out the damaged portal gun. Morty looked at her in awe that Rick was letting her do that without moving. Emma must’ve been surprised by that too because she said, “This must be some security system if even you’re afraid of it.”

“You have no idea what you’re messing with,” Rick warned as she examined the device in her hand. “One wrong move and you’ll be cut to pieces.”

“I think I’ll take my chances,” Emma muttered as she fiddled with the sparse programming on the portal gun, turning the bulb on the top, making it spew sparks again, at an even more alarming rate. After a moment she turned and shot a portal onto the ground in the doorway with a smile of triumph. She tossed the now dead looking portal gun to the ground next to her and then strode toward the glowing ball of green. 

“See ya, losers,” she called over her shoulder and was about to walk out when something caught her eye. She changed course slightly so that she ended up in front of a shelf in the corner of the room. On top of the shelf there were several picture frames that featured people in the family. She reached out to take the one in the middle. It was the one of Beth as a little girl, clinging to her mother. Both of them looked like they had been caught laughing. It was the only picture of Beth’s mother in the entire house. 

“If mom left, it was to protect us,” Beth said, sounding sure of herself. “She wouldn’t want us to fight.”

Emma shot a glance up back to Beth and then it looked like she was reaching to put her hand over her heart. As soon as she did though, a previously invisible necklace materialized in her hand and she yanked it down, breaking the chain off of her neck. She let the chain fall to the ground and held up a ring that had been hanging from the chain. Rick stiffened when he saw it. 

Gingerly, she pressed the ring to the back of the frame like it was going to burn her. Immediately a small piece of the frame broke off and she shook it to reveal a small stick that Morty recognized as a messenger device from his travels with Rick. She dropped the ring on the shelf and picked up the stick. 

“What is that?” Beth asked and moved to stand up. The gun above her fired a shot that barely missed her head, causing Beth to yelp and sit down. Emma looked up at her, an almost guilty look on her face. 

“It’s a message. Dianne recorded a fucking message and left it here with us,” Rick said, looking like he was this close to tackling her and taking the stick out of her hand by force. 

“Me. She left a message for me,” Emma corrected him, still staring down at the stick. 

“Hey now, that’s not fair. You should show that message to all of us. It’s probably a family thing,” Jerry said, trying to establish some control. 

“If she had wanted that she would’ve given you a key,” Emma said, sounding suddenly happy. She flicked the stick into the air and then caught it and put it into her pocket. A wide smile on her face. 

“Hey, y’know for someone that hates Rick, you’re an awful lot like him, y’know,” Morty said, sounding like he was getting angry. 

Emma looked up at him, a confused smile on her face. “I’m not like Rick,” she stated, sounding so sure of herself that everyone had a hard time disbelieving it. Then she tilted her head back and gave them all a look and said, “I’m better.” Everything about her in that moment screamed arrogance, from her hand on her tilted hips to her eyes looking down on them. She still had a big smile across her face, but then she stuck her tongue out and double flipped them off as she stepped backwards and disappeared into the portal. The look on her face almost identical to the pictures that Morty had seen of Rick when he was back in the Flesh Curtains. 

There was a moment of silence as the portal closed. After the gunshot at Beth, no one was very excited to move, and Emma’s very dramatic exit had them all still deep in thought. Finally, Rick broke the spell. 

“Computer. Turn off all defenses,” he said after pushing a button on his watch. 

“I’m sorry, Rick, but you are no longer the primary user of this system,” the watch said back at him. 

“What do you mean I’m not the primary user,” Rick snapped, he really wasn’t in the mood for this. “And what’s with the full sentences, I didn’t program you to think.

“You’re not smart enough to be the main user if you need me to repeat myself,” the watch said back. The monotone voice bringing out the irony of the mocking words. 

“Alright fine,” Rick said, defeated. He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. “Who is the main user?”

“The main user is the person that I can take commands from. Would you like me to repeat that?”

“F-uck this. Alright. Morty tell the computer to back off,” Rick commanded. 

“Uh-uh-uh computer, lower the defenses,” Morty stammered. 

“This isn’t Lord of the Rings here, Morty. Beth?” Rick said when nothing happened. 

“Turn off defenses?” Beth questioned and waited, but nothing happened. 

“Oh god, Summer? Please let it be Summer,” Rick groaned. 

“Turn off defenses!” Jerry boomed before Summer had the chance to say anything. Immediately the guns all retracted back into the wall and everything looked like nothing had even happened. 

“Did Aunt Emma hack your computer and turn it against you?” Summer asked, looking like she was going to start cracking up. 

“Looks like it, Summer,” Rick spat her name out, just angrily enough to where she didn’t laugh but kept smiling. “This is why I don’t deal with this AI shit.”

“Computer, can you tell me what the current score for the US Open is?” Jerry asked excitedly. 

“Certainly, Jerry,” the computer said and started listing of names and numbers. 

Rick groaned and then walked over to where the picture of Dianne was laying on its side. He picked up the discarded ring beside it and held it up to inspect it. It was all the proof that he needed. 

“Dad, you have to find her,” Beth appeared beside him and was staring at the ring too. 

“I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3


End file.
